1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention lies within the storage battery art. In particular, it lies within the art related to safety engineering with respect to a bank of storage batteries, such as those that can be used in power stations or other areas when uninterrupted power is desired.
2. The Prior Art
The prior art related to storage batteries for switch gear and emergency light and power in both power stations and industrial plants generally incorporates the utilization of banks of batteries. In particular, storage batteries are maintained under standard engineering practice, to provide an uninterrupted power supply.
The batteries are maintained on a standby basis in a protected and easily utilized manner. The maintenance of the battery bank is most important, and it is incumbent upon operators of switch gear for both industrial and utility uses to provide such batteries. If not, the switch gear, emergency lighting and other equipment cannot be operated.
The batteries provide large amounts of power for short periods of time. The electrical power is instantly available and is essential for today's industrial and commercial world for such periods.
As a consequence, if for any reason failure of the AC power supply occurs, the battery bank will furnish all the power required for operating circuit breakers and switch gear to maintain electrical control.
The foregoing banks of batteries are generally maintained on a rack. The rack supports the batteries in aligned juxtaposition to each other. The batteries are joined together electrically in order to allow their combined power to emanate from one particular connection. In particular, a series of bus bars are usually provided between the terminals of all the batteries.
The bus bars and the batteries on the rack are generally physically exposed. This has detracted from the operation of the batteries when various liquids or other materials have been accidentally thrown on the battery terminals. In addition thereto, a substantial safety hazard is encountered when the terminals are exposed. The power across the bus bars between the batteries is sufficient to cause serious injury and loss of life. In the past, there has been little or no consideration for coverage of the terminals, for either safety purposes, or to maintain efficiency of operation and cleanliness thereof.
This invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a readily usable cover for the batteries to protect them against contamination and operators from safety hazards. The cover is designed to accommodate variously sized batteries. Furthermore, the cover is also designed so that the opening of the cover can accommodate variously spaced batteries. In other words, it can be tailored to numerous sizes of batteries, as well as numerous lengths of batteries and various banks with variable terminals and bus bars as to both location and size.
As a consequence, this invention is a significant step forward in the art for purposes of providing covers to banks of batteries for safety and efficiency of operation.